By now you should know, like everyone else in the world knows, that a legal education is VERY expensive. A legal education is so expensive that the average law student graduates with about $75,000 in law school debt. This figure does not include debt that students accumulate during their undergraduate educations.

This debt may have a direct impact on two important life decisions. Those decisions are: (1) where you choose to work; and (2) how you spend your money. For instance, it is very unlikely that a recent law graduate with $100,000 debt is going to purchase a home if that person is earning $50,000 or less in a public interest job.

Finally, lets focus on working during law school. This is a law school expense that is often not talked about, nor acknowledged. Not only is law school expensive, but most full-time law students do not have the time to work during law school, which is one reason law students accumulate so much debt. Furthermore, even those students who do work usually do not work a full time job, nor earn a high salary.

Below are links to three informative articles on law school debt. The first link provides the average debt students accumulate at each of the nation's law schools. The second link is an article on how buying something as basic as a $3 latte everyday can affect your debt. The third link is an article that discusses salaries and debt.

• U.S. News & World Report article.
• Washington Post article.
• National Law Journal article.

Other related articles on this website include Legal Education-Income Potential, Legal Education-Practical Education, and Legal Education-Time.

Good luck in law school!